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Pusat Khidmat P104 Kelana Jaya

Last Saturday the P104 office had our annual Star Wars photoshoot. We do this in conjunction with our annual movie fundraiser. It is also an excuse for us to dress up and entertain my kids. Here are a bunch of photos of the P104 family.

Busy and fun day today. I will do a weekend wrap up posting tomorrow. In this particular posting, I just want to acknowledge the fantastic job that Sean Tan did in the last 2 months as my intern. Yesterday was his last day with us.

Sean did his second tour of duty in my office from late September to mid November. He came in just in time to assist me with the drafting of the Pakatan Harapan Alternative Budget. He did everything from taking notes, research, edit, write and coordinate everything to do with the budget. In the last 3 weeks before the launch, he also witnessed everything to do with the policy making process.

Sean tells me that he has seen enough of the crazy world of Malaysian politics; witnessing in abundance inflated egos, incompetence, laziness, irresponsibility and pure stupidity. All these have made him renounce politics for the next 10 years.

I wish Sean all the best in the more sane legal and corporate world. I don’t blame him. In fact, I encouraged him to do so and to learn as much as possible from professionals. Only with skills learnt in the real world, can he one day (if he so chooses) bring change to politics. It is my hope that when Sean turns 45, he will be in Parliament fighting for that change we all need.

It’s been an awesome adventure with the P104 team; from writing policy proposals, to organising local community events, to drafting the alternative budget, attending to residents’ concerns, and the weekly badminton sessions (my favourite!).

One of my inspirations do study Mathematics during my university days was from the TV series Numb3rs, where two brothers (one’s a Mathematics professor at a US college, while the other’s an agent with the FBI) solved crime using methods like k-means clustering and geographic profiling. When I discovered the theories that were used on the show were real, I thought to myself, “Now that’s who I want to be when I grow up.”

My skills came in useful in 2014 when there was a need for someone to create a fiscal model for the alternative budget: to find a way to estimate future revenue and expenditure based on a number of inequalities and assumptions. This eventually evolved into electoral modelling for the first by-election after GE2013 at Teluk Intan. Using information like ethnic proportions in each voting stream and polling station, I was able to come up with a range of expected outcomes (i.e. specifically which party would get how many votes etc.). It turned out my model was off by over 6,000 votes, as one of the factors I heavily underestimated was voter turnout. My models for future by-elections were improved once I factored in proportions of voters who worked out of state.

Fast forward 3 years later, I’ve been recruited into INVOKE, where a team of data analysts are using highly advanced technologies like cloud computing and machine learning to model electoral outcomes for the upcoming general election. We’ve developed our own predictive models to determine, at the individual level, how fencesitters can be expected to vote, how huge numbers of newly registered voters will affect electoral outcomes at the state and parliamentary seat level, and even which party should stand at which seat to maximize its chances of victory. Before INVOKE started, I never would have thought of creating mathematical models for political campaigns. It just feels surreal to be in the shoes of the Mathematics professor from Numb3rs, explaining the use and results of statistical techniques like regression analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Markov chains for forecasting purposes.

I’ve been lucky to be able to work with colleagues who taught me the values of humility, humour, and empathy. I’ve worked with highly intelligent, down to earth people I deeply respect: Wong Chen, Rafizi Ramli, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to name a few. If you’re looking for a place to intern, to learn more about what happens behind the scenes in an MP’s office (or to put your mathematics/computing skills to really awesome use), do consider working here at P104:)

Tonight the P104 office said goodbye to our very, very long term “intern”. Koh Wyhow, graduate of National University of Singapore, math sifu and regular office prankster, joined my office as an intern in November 2013. And he never left, until now.

His job as a math lecturer at Taylor’s College, meant that for the last 4 years, he would spend the morning lecturing and then after lunch, hanging out almost every day at our office. He became so comfortable here that he started forwarding all his Lazada items to our office!

A very fast worker with a brilliant mind, he is awkwardly funny and despite his casualness and slacker appearance (he wears sport shorts and slippers most of the time in our office), he is truly serious and committed to make Malaysia better.

We worked on many position and policy papers together. I believe that we share a curiosity and need to try solve all things complex and challenging. I really enjoyed bouncing ideas off him. His thought processing speed and usage of Excel is legendary.

Wyhow did all the Alternative Budget math and fiscal projections for the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. He created mathematical models to some of my crazier eureka moment ideas. He calculated data when government stats were opaque and lacking. He computed stuff and found answers that senior and famous university academics have no clue how to do. We also created the initial model on how to compute corruption in government, which later became the basis of the NOW corruption index. He also did complex models for elections. Basically, he was our resident math genius. Every data driven Parliamentary office should strive to have one!

Unassuming and down to earth, Wyhow is truly one of the great unsung heroes of change. After self-learning how to do big data stats and after joining INVOKE big data team, Wyhow has decided to quit lecturing and will be getting a 9 to 5 corporate big data job.

So tonight, we said goodbye to his daily visits. Nevertheless, he has promised to try to join us for weekly badminton sessions and community service nights.

We wish Wyhow all the best in his new job! He joins the ranks of our P104 Jedis.

Good morning. It is 10 am and as promised yesterday, I am releasing a full disclosure report on a matter that has been upsetting and annoying my office for the last three and a half months.

In short, my office was audited by the Selangor government under mysterious circumstances in May 2016 but the report was only delivered to my office nine months later in February 2017. The audit was done without due process, fairness, or natural justice. It is also my opinion that the findings are also absolutely baseless. Despite repeated letters, my office was then stonewalled for three and the months by the Selangor government authorities.

Many of you are aware that I don’t have a particularly good relationship with the Selangor administration. I have spoken out vocally on DEIG and also on asset declaration matters. I admit that I have many personal faults; I am not particularly patient and am extremely blunt with my views. But being corrupt or running a disorganised office are not some of them. I would like to continue to believe that the audit was done without mala fide.

This very long disclosure is made for public record purposes and to defend the good reputation of my staff and my office.

START OF REPORT

Executive Summary

1. The Selangor State Treasury audited my office accounts in May 2016 and sent a copy of the audit findings to my office on 8th February 2017. The findings allege that my office had failed to follow some guidelines.

2. In arriving at the audit findings, at all material times the Selangor State Treasury made no attempt whatsoever to inform us, visit my office, or seek any clarifications from my staff. The audit was done mysteriously and without due process and natural justice.

3. My office immediately challenged the audit findings and provided a point by point rebuttal and also 4,000 pages of documents. My office also wrote 4 letters to the Selangor government authorities, all of which remain unanswered.

4. On 8th May 2017, after receiving no action and no reply to my letters, my office issued a notice to the Selangor State Treasury that if it fails to either (a) retract the audit findings, or (b) conduct a fair and proper audit within 14 days, I will go public on the matter to defend the honour of my staff and my office.

5. The Selangor State Treasury failed to provide my office a reply despite the 14 days notice given and as such I am making this full public disclosure on the dispute.

6. My office reserves the right to pursue all legal avenues against the Selangor State Treasury including filing a complaint to the Selangor Public Accounts Committee and/or the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency.

Report Title: Full Disclosure on our Dispute with the Selangor Government’s Audit Findings

1.0 Background

1.1 As a Selangor Member of Parliament, I am given a grant by the Selangor State Government of RM250,000 a year to spend on my constituents.

1.2 This RM250,000 budget goes through an administrative process involving the Petaling District and Land Office (Pejabat Daerah dan Tanah Petaling).

1.3 For every Ringgit we spend, my office will prepare all the documents and send them to the Petaling District and Land Office. The Petaling District and Land Office will then inspect if the documents are in order and if they are satisfied, they will issue us a cheque in the name of the recipient. When we receive the cheque, we will then contact and give the recipient the cheque and get him/her to sign off a receipt voucher.

1.4 In short, the administration of our community spending is tightly supervised by the Petaling District and Land Office.

1.5 The Petaling District and Land Office in turn is responsible to the Selangor State Treasury (Perbendaharaan Negeri Selangor) to keep proper records of all documents.

2.0 Timeline and Facts

2.1 The Selangor State Treasury in a letter dated 2nd February 2017 addressed to the Petaling District and Land Office attached an audit report of the 2014 and 2015 spending of my P104 Kelana Jaya office. A copy of the letter and attached audit report was delivered to my office on 8th February 2017.

2.2 In the said 2nd February letter, the Selangor State Treasury stated that they did an audit on my office on 1st to 3rd May 2016. The audit report was only prepared and sent to the Petaling District and Land Office nine months after the audit took place.

2.3 At all material times, my office was not aware of the audit. The Selangor State Treasury made no attempt to inform us, visit my office, or seek any clarifications from my staff. The audit was done mysteriously and without due process and natural justice.

2.4 Until today, I have no idea how or in what manner the Selangor State Treasury carried out the audit; presumably they must have visited the Petaling District and Land Office.

2.5 However on 27th February 2017, in order to get to the bottom of this mystery audit, I had a meeting with Dato’ Haji Mohd Misri, the District Officer of the Petaling District and Land Office, together with his finance officer. Both also had no idea how the audit was conducted as they have no recollection whatsoever of any such audit visit to their office by the Selangor State Treasury.

2.6 Despite the continuing mystery of how the audit actually took place on 1st to 3rd March 2016, my main quarrel with the Selangor State Treasury is essentially over its audit findings.

2.7 While the audit report admonished the Petaling District and Land Office and is not directed at my office (I was merely informed of the fact via carbon copy), the audit findings clearly state that my office had somehow failed to follow state government guidelines and that the Petaling District and Land Office should take two actions against my office: (a) to compel my office to prepare a budget proposal; and (b) to compel my office to spend more money on small projects.

2.8 There are absolutely no allegations of misappropriation or corrupt practices in the audit findings. However I still felt strongly that my office has been denied natural justice and the right to be heard regarding the audit findings of not complying with guidelines.

2.9 In fact, we strongly object to all the audit findings, which in our opinion, some are completely baseless and some can be clarified easily by asking my staff and requesting for documents. Instead of carrying out a proper, transparent and fair audit, this mystery audit rushed to findings without due process to paint an untrue picture of my office’s administration.

2.10 My office keeps a meticulous filing system and we data-entry every single file of our spending; and because of the system we implemented, we could immediately extract the files, analyse them, and give a point by point rebuttal reply to all the audit findings. So on the very same day we received the audit report (8th February 2017), my office was able to issue a full written reply refuting all the Selangor State Treasury audit findings.

2.11 In addition, upon the request from the Petaling District and Land Office, my officers on 24th February 2017 delivered approximately 4,000 pages of documents relating to our 2014 and 2015 accounts. We were told that the Selangor State Treasury had requested the Petaling District and Land Office to obtain these documents from my office.

2.12 At that point in late February 2017, I was led to believe that a follow-up audit will be made by the authorities, and I was quietly confident that my office will be fully absolved after delivering concise arguments and backing up the same with 4,000 pages of documents.

2.13 However in early May 2017, a few party members contacted me, asking me if everything is okay with my community budget. They had heard political rumours in the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) channels that my community budget has been suspended (absolutely untrue) because my office had failed an audit! They urged me to go public to put a quick end to the malicious rumour.

2.14 On 8th May 2017, exactly three months after I received the audit report, I issued a notice to the Selangor State Treasury, asking them to give me a written reply within 14 days and to take either action: (a) to absolve my office of their earlier audit findings; or (b) promptly conduct a full and proper audit in my office, in the presence of my staff. Failing a reply, I notified the Selangor State Treasury that I will publicly disclose everything I have on this matter.

2.16 In fact, during this entire three-and-a-half-month episode, I have written four letters to the authorities on this matter and received not a single official reply. I am not sure what the Selangor Government protocol is when it comes to replying to letters from Members of Parliament from Selangor, but this stonewalling attitude is highly unprofessional and disappointing, to say the least.

2.17 If the Selangor government is unwilling to do the right thing, then I am called upon to defend the honour of my diligent and professional staff and the office of Parlimen Kelana Jaya through this disclosure.

2.18 Before releasing this, I had briefed PKR party leaders in an official political bureau meeting on 16th May 2017 of my intended actions. On 21st May 2017, I also met Y.A.B. Azmin Ali and had briefed him on the same matter.

3.0 Audit Findings and our Rebuttal

3.1 The following table details the six audit findings of the Selangor State Treasury and my office’s point by point rebuttal of the same, contained in my 8th February 2017 letter.

3.2 In audit findings no.1, the Selangor State Treasury concluded that my office did not spend on “projek kecil” in 2014 and 2015 and therefore my office had failed to comply with the Selangor government guidelines. While it is true that we abhor and did minimal spending on projek kecil in 2014 and 2015, we most definitely did not break any Selangor government guidelines. The Selangor State Treasury obviously has no clue about its own guidelines at the material time of this audit (period 2014 and 2015). For the period 2014 and 2015, the Selangor government guidelines clearly give discretion to all MPs and ADUNS to do or not to do projek kecil. The Selangor government’s new practice of mandatory projek kecil was only issued via a circular in December 2015 (outside the audit period). This audit finding is therefore completely flawed and baseless.

3.3 In audit findings no.2, the Selangor State Treasury is inexplicably upset that I focused most of my financial help on the poor and needy from the Desa Mentari area. This finding can be easily explained by the fact that my poorest constituents in the entire Kelana Jaya Parliamentary constituency are from the Desa Mentari area. This audit findings no.2 is so obviously inane and could have been clarified by asking my staff or a visit to Desa Mentari by the mysterious audit team. I mean, why would I provide welfare aid to people staying in the middle class suburbs of Subang Jaya? There is absolutely no Selangor government guideline that states that we cannot focus our welfare aid to a geographical zone.

3.4 In audit finding no.3, the Selangor State Treasury is again inexplicably upset that we gave financial aid to 68 poor individuals in 2014 and again to the same individuals again in 2015. This finding can be easily explained by the fact that all 68 individuals were poor and desperate in 2014 and they remained poor and desperate in 2015. There is absolutely no Selangor government guideline that states that we cannot help the same poor people, once every year.

3.5 In audit finding no.4, the Selangor State Treasury complained about the lack of supporting documentation of two recipients, why we made payments to two persons involved in the Sister Stella tuition centre, and why three Indian temples have no bank accounts. We extracted all the files to the seven recipients and provided full explanation on the circumstances regarding all seven recipients. The mysterious audit team could have easily engaged my office to seek clarification before making this audit finding. All seven recipients were in fact vetted through and cleared by the Petaling District and Land Office. This finding is clearly not an issue of guidelines but an administrative matter between the Selangor State Treasury and the Petaling District and Land Office.

3.6 In audit finding no.5, the Selangor State Treasury complained I spent too little on “mesra rakyat” activities. Program “mesra rakyat” primarily focuses on spending on food and drinks for festivities like Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya and Christmas. The reason why we abhor spending public money on both “mesra rakyat” and “projek kecil” is that ultimately these programs will enrich contractors, caterers and event managers. In fact, my office is proud that we do minimal spending on “mesra rakyat” because these programs serve only to inflate the ego of politicians, are absolutely wasteful and can be better used for helping the poor and needy. The bottom line is my office did not break any Selangor government guidelines on spending minimally on “mesra rakyat” simply because there are no guidelines that state that we have to spend a specific amount on it.

3.7 In audit finding no.6, the Selangor State Treasury is inexplicably upset that we did not make emergency payments during the years 2014 and 2015. The answer to this extremely bizarre query is very simple, we did not receive any requests for emergency payments for the said two years. That is a fact. If nobody in my constituency asks for emergency payment because his house burnt down, how can my office be blamed for not making “emergency” payments. Again I stress that there is absolutely no Selangor government guideline that states that we must make or even manufacture emergency payments.

3.8 The above rebuts every single finding of the Selangor State Treasury audit report. Over this three and half months period, my office has been repeatedly denied a basic right to be heard and to present our above arguments. I have also been advised by both my lawyers and auditors, that these six audit findings contains elements of mala fide and that I should seriously consider seeking legal recourse if the Selangor government fails to right this wrong immediately.

4.0 Conclusion

4.1 This disclosure is intended to put public pressure on the Selangor State Treasury to take appropriate actions to either: (a) accept my arguments and retract the findings of their audit; or (b) to conduct a new audit and giving my office a fair and proper hearing.

4.2 The political intention of this disclosure is also to put a stop to the malicious rumours that are damaging the good reputation of my staff and my office.

4.3 Most importantly, it is my hope that this disclosure will also help develop better audit processes that adhere to basic principles of fairness and natural justice, for the Selangor State Treasury.

4.4 Depending on the next course of action or inaction by the Selangor State Treasury, my office reserves the right to pursue this matter against the Selangor State Treasury by all legal means available, including but not limited to filing a complaint to the Selangor Public Accounts Committee and/or the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency.